Trump administration limiting opioid prescriptions for federal employees

The Federal Employee Health Benefits plan covers some 9 million people, and starting sometime this fall, those under the plan who get opioid prescriptions for managing pain will only be able to get up to a week’s worth of medication at a time, down from 30 days. In a drug policy briefing yesterday, a senior Trump administration official said that people can refill the prescriptions up to three times. Opioids prescribed after surgeries are seen as a gateway for some people who develop substance use disorder, and the new rule looks to change that. The announcement comes amid the first dip in overdose deaths in three decades as well as ongoing efforts to curb the opioid epidemic: For instance, Boston’s mayor just announced that all city buildings will now carry naloxone kits.